Arielle

By: Alyson Tierney

Disclaimer: I do not own Lorelai or Rory Gilmore, or any other character associated with Gilmore Girls the way it is seen on television. Those characters and other related things and ideas belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB Network. However, I do own Alicia and Arielle, since I made them up.

Author's Note: This story idea is taken from the book "Baby" by Patricia MacLachlan, so I'd like to thank her for the terrific story idea, and I hope I did it justice in this story. It takes place this Christmas—I hope you like this, and have a very good holiday season.

It's amazing to be able to say, but this story is now complete. It started with just a sparkle of an idea while I was eating lunch one day around Halloween (why Halloween made me think of babies is beyond me) and grew and blossomed to this. I read that it was enjoyable for the most of you, and I am very grateful for each and every one of your reviews. I hope you enjoy this last addition, and I hope to see each and every one of you reviewing stories of mine in the future. I can't promise when I'll have another one, especially with second semester starting, but there will be one eventually. Thank you everyone! You're awesome!

CHAPTER TWELVE

Rory was running through a field with apples, oranges, and rainbow candy canes falling from the sky. Lorelai was running with her, trying to keep up. She finally caught up to her daughter, and tackled her, kissing her on the face repeatedly. Rory snuggled back into her mother's arms, feeling warm and happy, and her mother began to sing.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when the skies are grey. You'll never know how much I lo-o-ove you. Please don't take my sunshine away!"

"Rory? It's Christmas morning." Lorelai's voice was distant, but became clearer as Rory opened her eyes. Sun was streaming through the window, and she could smell bacon and eggs. Rory smiled up at her mother, who brushed Rory's hair away from her face and kissed her nose, "It's Christmas morning, my sunshine."

Rory breathed in deep and grinned, "I smell food."

"Yep, there's bacon, eggs, toast, coffee, and even some orange juice." Lorelai said, motioning to the tray she'd set on Rory's bedside table.

"Okay, I can picture you making toast and coffee and pouring the orange juice, but where did the eggs and bacon come from?" Rory asked, as her mom set her tray down in front of her as she sat up. Lorelai then picked another tray off the floor next to the bed and settled in next to her daughter.

Lorelai gasped in mock surprise, "Are you insinuating that I didn't cook that all by myself? I so did!"

"So you didn't get Luke to teach you how?" Rory looked back at her mother, knowingly.

Lorelai looked flustered, 'Well…possibly. Maybe…yes?"

"Ha!" Rory crowed and grinned at her mother, "Thanks, Mom." Rory said, looking down at her meal. She noticed something a little out of the ordinary, though, "Mom?" she asked.

Lorelai looked at her innocently, "Yes, babe?"

"There is a long half of a colored candy cane sticking out of my coffee, what I guess is pieces of the curved end sprinkled on my toast with peanut butter, and there are two colored candy canes making a heart shape around my eggs." Rory pointed out and then looked at her mom, "You hate colored candy canes."

"I know." Lorelai grinned, "But you don't."

"Thanks, Mom." Rory said again, sharing a smile with Lorelai. They both dug into their meals. Everything seemed to taste better on Christmas morning. They ate quickly and dumping their dishes into the sink, headed into the living room.

"Yay! Presents!" Rory was suddenly transformed into a 4-year-old again as she dove under the tree. Lorelai laughed as she followed suit.

Rory sorted through her presents, putting them in the order she liked them. She always opened random townies' presents first, then her grandparents', then Luke's, Sookie's, Lane's, and finally, her mom's. She unwrapped slowly, laughing with Lorelai about some of the ridiculous presents she was getting. Some people meant well, but they really didn't know Rory super well, like her mom did. Her mom always, always knew what to get her, and this year was no exception. Rory grinned as she unwrapped a box of colored candy canes, a necklace of Lorelai's she'd admired for a long time, a journal, several pens with wacky designs, a book she'd been searching for but hadn't been able to find, and the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 7 DVD box set. She and her mom had been watching Buffy religiously for most of its airtime, but she'd missed a lot of the last season because she'd been busy with her senior year of high school and getting prepared for college. Rory pulled her mom into a long hug, squeezing her tight, "Thank you, Mom." She whispered.

"You're welcome baby. Merry Christmas." Lorelai squeezed her daughter back, "And thank you. I love the Yale Mom sweatshirt and the fuzzy new slippers."

"I'm sorry I couldn't get you more. I'm just…" Rory began, but her mom cut her off.

"You're broke. No worries, you're a college student. Besides, you're going to be paying for me when I get old." Lorelai winked at her daughter, who laughed.

"You're never going to get old. You still don't look a day over 30." Rory smiled, and then got up, looking out the window, "Hey, it's snowing again!"

"Again?" Lorelai repeated, standing also, and putting her arm around her daughter, "Wow, there must be at least a foot and a half out there now."

"Yeah. Our poor snowwoman is going to be buried in an avalanche if she's not careful." Rory smiled, looking at the snowwoman out in the yard.

"What's her name? We still haven't named her yet." Lorelai pointed out.

Rory looked lost in thought, "Her name is Alicielle."

"After Alicia and Arielle?" Lorelai asked. Rory nodded, and Lorelai smiled, "Perfect." Rory laid her head on her mother's shoulder as Lorelai slowly began rocking her back and forth. They stood there, next to the tree for a few moments before Lorelai turned and pulled her daughter to the floor, "Lie down here." Lorelai instructed her daughter as she positioned herself so she was looking up at the tree branches and ornaments.

Rory settled in next to her, leaning on her mother's shoulder, "Wow."

"This is the best way to look at the tree." Lorelai claimed, smiling, "It's so pretty that way."

"Yeah." Rory agreed as she looked up at the branches and twinkling lights. It was pretty. She snuggled against her mother as Lorelai reached up and started playing with one of the ornaments Rory had made when she was little. Rory smiled, gazing up at the ornament. This was a good Christmas, she decided, it was just what she needed.

THE END

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this!